Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy

Colin Kahl - International Relations Speaker Series

THIS EVENT IS ARCHIVED

Colin Kahl

Date:6 December 2018Time: 3:00 PM

Finishes:6 December 2018Time: 4:30 PM

Venue: Brunei Gallery Room: B211

Type of Event: Lecture

Since September 11 2001, the Middle East has been at the forefront of US foreign policy. Colin Kahl will unpack how the three very different administrations since then - those of presidents George W Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump - have approached policy towards the region. How has each President’s strategic beliefs shaped critical decisions on the use of force? How has each President reacted to his predecessor’s foreign policy choices? And to what extent have US policies toward key regional adversaries and partners changed over the past 17 years?

Colin H. Kahl is co-director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation, the inaugural Steven C. Házy Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and a Professor, by courtesy, in the Department of Political Science at Stanford University. He is also a Strategic Consultant to the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.From October 2014 to January 2017, he was Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President. In that position, he served as a senior advisor to President Obama and Vice President Biden on all matters related to U.S. foreign policy and national security affairs, and represented the Office of the Vice President as a standing member of the National Security Council Deputies’ Committee.

From February 2009 to December 2011, Dr. Kahl was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East at the Pentagon. In this capacity, he served as the senior policy advisor to the Secretary of Defense for Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, and six other countries in the Levant and Persian Gulf region. In June 2011, he was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service by Secretary Robert Gates.

The event will be chaired by Anthony Dworkin, Senior Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.